orm, and to have pitted himself, at the age of
nineteen, against the mature strength of the o-omi would have been to
perish on the threshold of his purpose.

THE EMPRESS SUIKO

By the contrivance of Umako, the consort of the Emperor Bidatsu was
now placed on the throne, Prince Shotoku being nominated Prince
Imperial and regent. The Soga-uji held absolute power in every
department of State affairs.

THE CONSTITUTION OF SHOTOKU

One of the most remarkable documents in Japanese annals is the
Jushichi Kempo, or Seventeen-Article Constitution, compiled by
Shotoku Taishi in A.D. 604. It is commonly spoken of as the first
written law of Japan. But it is not a body of laws in the proper
sense of the term. There are no penal provisions, nor is there any
evidence of promulgation with Imperial sanction. The seventeen
articles are simply moral maxims, based on the teachings of Buddhism
and Confucianism, and appealing to the sanctions of conscience.
Prince Shotoku, in his capacity of regent, compiled them and issued
them to officials in the guise of "instructions."

I. Harmony is to be valued, and the avoidance of wanton opposition
honoured. All men are swayed by class feeling and few are
intelligent. Hence some disobey their lords and fathers or maintain
feuds with neighbouring villages. But when the high are harmonious
and the low friendly, and when there is concord in the discussion of
affairs, right views spontaneously find acceptance. What is there
that cannot be then accomplished?

II. Reverence sincerely the Three Treasures--Buddha, the Law, and the
Priesthood--for these are the final refuge of the Four Generated
Beings* and the supreme objects of faith in all countries. What man
in what age can fail to revere this law? Few are utterly bad: they
may be taught to follow it. But if they turn not to the Three
Treasures, wherewithal shall their crookedness be made straight?

*Beings produced in transmigration by the four processes of being
born from eggs, from a womb, from fermentation, or from
metamorphosis.

III. When you receive the Imperial Commands fail not to obey
scrupulously. The lord is Heaven; the vassal, Earth. Heaven
overspreads; Earth upbears. When this is so, the four seasons follow
their due course, and the powers of Nature develop their efficiency.
If the Earth attempt to overspread, Heaven falls in ruin. Hence when
the lord speaks, the vassal hearkens; when the superior acts, the
inferior yields compl